Who’s catching the Warriors? The hot and the cold of the NBA

The NBA’s midseason landscape shows Toronto, Denver and Houston as clear-cut threats to the Warriors’ superiority. The Nuggets and Raptors have been solid throughout, and it appears that James Harden will make sure the unorthodox Rockets get deep into the postseason. As for the rest, here are three teams on the rise: Oklahoma City: With Russell Westbrook, Paul George, Steven Adams, Jerami Grant and Terrance Ferguson in the lineup — and lockdown defender Andre Roberson due to return at some point — this is the best defensive team in the league, statistically and visually. We’ve known that for a while. But there’s a new look to Westbrook’s game. His triple-doubles always seemed inevitable, but the numbers rang hollow as he recklessly insisted on taking every big shot down the stretch. Westbrook’s numbers were especially astounding Thursday night against San Antonio — 24 points, 24 assists, 13 rebounds — but most crucial was his approach in the critical moments of that double-overtime game. Nobody attacks the hoop like Westbrook, and as he drew a crowd, he consistently fired perfect passes to open shooters. Westbrook’s next step is to forget about three-pointers altogether — at least when it matters. Never good from long range (30 percent career), he was in a 4-for-29 slump heading into Saturday night’s rematch with the Spurs, while shooting a dismal 22.9 for the season. Compared to Stephen Curry, whose silky-smooth release is like honey pouring from a jar, Westbrook’s three-point shot looks like he was handed a… [Read full story]